Readers' comments

I would not have forseen this say twenty five years ago when I first began to hear of and know about the internet.I think I read a survey in The Economist round about 1985, and thought to myself that it was all hype.Their(The Economist's) predictions have been far exceeded.Even then I never imagined it's destructive possibilities.In any case it is now very clear that there are many business models which would have to go.In the past for example I used to visit bookshops frequently,now I stay at home and browse 'Amazon'.I feel sorry for booksellers and bookshops,but some of them don't seem to know what is lurking round the corner for them.Similarly,postoffices around the world have to wake up to what is lurking around the corner for them.

Many of those packages that are "delivered" by FedEx or UPS are at some point handled by the USPS, particularly in rural areas which are loss leaders for both private shipping companies. Also, as a small business, I cannot enjoy the discounted shipping rates that large companies can negotiate with FedEx or UPS. Both of them also charge extra for residential delivery and Saturday delivery. When FedEx Ground contacted me about an incorrect ZIP code, they charged me $11 to fix it. They also charge $4.25 to get a signature. OTOH, the USPS cannot make a single change without congressional approval.

I can live without Saturday delivery, but our company's shipping costs would skyrocket without the postal service. I just shipped a six pound package to India for a quarter of FedEx's price, and the delivery time is competitive.

Also, my boss insists on occasionally handing me envelopes that he addressed by hand, which is a no-no with FedEx and UPS. The post office can still decipher his handwriting, and deliver the letter to his intended recipient.

As someone else said, the absurd rule that forces the post office to fund its pensions for 75 years is why the balance sheets don't look pretty. Interestingly, no one asked the Treasury Dept. or the Fed if their Wall Street bailouts made any money.

Laying off 20% of the postal workforce? Closing 12% of the post offices? Gutting postal workers health and pension benefits? Eliminating Saturday delivery? The Postmaster General is floating these radical proposals because, on paper, the USPS lost $20 Billion in the last five years. But 100% of the loss is due to an unnecessary 2006 Congressional mandate to pre-fund retiree health benefits 75 years in advance within 10 years.
The financial “crisis” facing the US Postal Service is just an accounting problem. The USPS does not need a taxpayer bailout, just a transfer of postal monies (derived from postage – the postal service receives no tax money) from the overfunded pension and retiree health benefit accounts to operating accounts, just action by Congress (HR 1351) or an Executive Order of the President. Don’t believe the financial hype – it’s a political problem.

Ask FedEx Or UPS to send a letter or small package and they will be glad to do for $5 or more what the USPS does for 44 cents. and there are many places they won't do it at all. All we have to do is let the USPS charge a few cents more. Who else is going to deliver the Economist to everybody who prefers his magazine on paper.

The answer to F2Eg3gfffG's question about the prevalence of Post Offices in MA is that it is a persisting example of pork barrel politics and historically post masters were a political appointment - like the rest of the US 'civil service' - so the posts were held the rewards of patronage...

These days a congressman will inevitable oppose the closure of any ones you refer to because to do so attracts the active opprobrium of those who are disadvantaged, but little real benefit from the general mass of his constituency - a classic example of the failure of democracy in practice.

Just a general observation I'd like to share. I live in a semi-rural town in north central Massachusetts with a population of just over 8,000 people. We have three postal offices that are all within a two mile radius. My question is simply, why?

My answer is that some beauracrat outsourced a lengthy study to justify this utter waste of financial resources.

The Post Office operates the largest fleet of vehicles in the country. They commissioned over 100,000 custom Grumman LLV, a unique under powered and boxy government vehicle. Incidentally it is also made by one of the largest US Defense Contractor.

These get about 15 mpg. But when driven on mail routes, there is a stop about every 40 feet to load a mailbox. And to do a door delivery, the postman has to kill the engine and remove the key and lock the vehicle manually to prevent vehicle theft. This may result in vehicle start/stopping up to 300 times a day, eating into mileage.

And as a result the real life mileage on some routes is 2-3 mpg.

A Prius hybrid gas-electric off-the-shelf civilian vehicle will get 52mpg from city stop-and-go driving. These vehicles crawl along with electric drive at short distances and speeds under 15 mph. They have been around for 10 years and are top pick in fuel efficiency and reliability.

And as the largest fleet operator, the US Post service is the largest single consumer of petrol. A savings of 1 mpg in fleet efficiency can save billions. Otherwise fuel spikes just eat into meager operating expenses. Stamps can't reflect pump prices.

But the US Postal service does not buy Toyotas because it is a foreign brand. And they are stuck with 1970's technology designed to operate with cheap 30 cent/ gallon gas.

Another example of buy American government policy derailing efficiency.

The problem with Mail is it that is almost entirely unwanted junk mail. Over 80% of my intake is junk mail, solicitations or advertisement. And yet the Post Office embraces it because it brings in the volume and pays the bills. My garbage can is right near my mailbox and most of it goes unread right into the trash. When a medium has so much junk, people tend to ignore it.

eMail is not so much better. Up to 90% of all email is spam. There is a constant risk of getting stung by a trojan or virus.

And it is becoming Grandma's technology. Kids under 20 yo do not even bother with email. Txting and facebooking are a lot more expedient and you can shotgun your friends with a photo or video even before you leave the rollercoaster ride.

So much time is wasted to filter unwanted noise and junk.
.....And this is the Age of Information?

Perhaps the local aspect of the post office -- the consumer offices and delivery -- should be devolved to local governments, free of past contracts and limitations.

In some areas, these local governments might limit residential delivery to one day per week to same money. In others, postal workers might be tasked with additional chores such as enforcing local ordinances or looking in on seniors, doing other jobs to make up for the diminished job of delivering the mail.

The post office buildings themselves could be become multi-function as well, with perhaps federal, state and local government windows.

The federal postal service would be limited to moving mail and packages from one post office to another, for a smaller fee, in competition with other carriers.